The Disaster Artist is a 2017 biography/drama film produced and directed by James Franco. The film is based on Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s non-fiction book of the same name and chronicles the making of Tommy Wiseau’s 2003 cult film The Room. The Disaster Artist stars James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Alison Brie, Ari Graynor, and Josh Hutcherson. The film follows Greg Sestero, an aspiring film actor, who meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, as they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.
What a movie, Mark. Sorry if I continually use The Room quotes throughout this review.. You knew it’d be coming. So yeah, this is a pretty damn good film. It’s not just a parody film about one of the most controversial films of the century, but a film that adds more depth to characters and people that actually experienced these events in real life. Is it 100%? No, of course not. But what this film does do is give the audience a better understanding of the man behind the camera and in front of the lens, Mr. Tommy Wiseau.
So although Tommy isn’t the great actor of all time, (hell, he might even be the worst) what James Franco brings to the role is scary good. Not only was his impersonation of Tommy spot on, but his way of thought and physical mannerisms were as accurate as they could possibly be. It’s almost scary that he is so good in this role, and his performance really captures the feel and essence of this movie. If I had to choose, Franco would probably be my choice for best actor this year at the Oscars, hands down. This guy is utterly fantastic, and makes each scene feel almost as if it was the real deal.
Although I usually talk about acting in a single paragraph I thought that Franco (James, that is) deserved his own. As for the rest of the cast? I thought they were pretty decent. Even though I thought Dave Franco did pretty well as Greg, I felt that a couple of times he didn’t portray the character as well as James had with Tommy. Needless to say that’s getting pretty nit picky, but again that’s my own personal opinion on it. As for everyone else? I thought they did a decent job. Rogen was basically the same person he is for every movie, and same with the rest of the cast. No one really stood out above the rest, but no one was horrible either.
Continuing on with what I really enjoyed about this film was definitely the care and effort James went to in making sure that this film accurately represented the events that took place during the actual shooting of The Room. Although this film doesn’t seem like it would be an issue to make (The Room), there were a lot of hurtles that these actors had to go through. The serious approach to these events that James included really gave this film weight instead of being just a film making fun of one of the worst films in history. You really feel for these characters and because of that it makes you appreciate The Room on another level.
Of course there were some issues with the film, the biggest of which being the marketing. Although I usually watch just the first theatrical trailer to any movie, I will say that these trailers gave away a lot of key parts that made this film so great. I personally thought the teaser was enough. Anyways, there isn’t anything fun about watching a movie that you have basically already seen throughout the marketing trailers and such. Other small issues arose in the misuse of some major actors playing minor roles. Again this is more of a personal gripe I had about the film, but I felt that a lot of the big named actors like Hutcherson and Efron are just used as silly gags instead of being expanded upon.
Closing things up, The Disaster Artist is really a good film. Although I didn’t enjoy it as much as some others might express, I really hope that doesn’t sway anyone from wanting to go out and see this film. James Franco not only did a fantastic job producing and directing this film, but blew me away with his portrayal of Tommy Wiseau. I’m not kidding you, this is best actor material right here. James not only did a fantastic job directing and acting, but the way he tells this story really gives you the human side of the weirdest man on the face of the planet. Although the film’s marketing gives away way too much and some actors are way underutilized, this film still turns out to be an amazing film. In the end I decided to give The Disaster Artist a “Good” on theVade Review Bar. Even with my score being lower than a lot of you might have expected for this film I still encourage you all to go out and see it. Never in a million years would I have guessed that a film about The Room would be so damn good.
